Vanderbilt Men’s Basketball has exceeded expectations since the start of the 2024 season. With an almost completely new roster and head coach, many predicted this to be a rebuilding year. A 4-0 start had many wondering if Memorial Magic was back, and a 6-1 record by mid-November officially proved that Vanderbilt was ahead of schedule.
Vanderbilt finished its nonconference schedule with wins over The Citadel, Austin Peay and New Orleans. The Commodores dominated in all three affairs, winning by a combined 126 points and improving to 12-1. Although the Commodores didn’t have the same grueling nonconference schedule as some of their SEC peers, they earned four impressive wins over Power Four opponents and won by 30-plus points five times.
The lone blemish on Vanderbilt’s record came against a Drake team — that lost its first game just days ago. Vanderbilt’s impressive play has moved up to No. 50 in the KenPom rankings and No. 35 in the NET, with latest bracket projections placing it as either the last team in or one of the first four out of the NCAA tournament.
“The big goal is obviously [to make] the NCAA tournament — we don’t hide from that,” head coach Mark Byington said on Dec. 30. “We talk about winning every day.”
Depth at every turn
One of the strongest parts of this Vanderbilt team is its deep, productive bench. Byington has been methodical and efficient with his use of the team’s depth, unlike the frantic and often disjunctive rotations that came during past seasons under Jerry Stackhouse.
While Byington seems to have recently zeroed in on a consistent starting five — Christopher Manon, Grant Huffman, Tyler Nickel, AJ Hoggard and Devin McGlockton — some of his most efficient and prolific scorers are coming off the bench. Junior Jason Edwards started at the beginning of the season but has recently thrived in a true sixth-man role. Edwards has come off the bench the past six contests, averaging an impressive 20.7 points across an average of 22 minutes in those games. It doesn’t take Edwards long to make an impact by putting offensive and defensive pressure on opponents.
Edwards isn’t the only one making an impact off the bench, though. First-year Tyler Tanner is also a significant contributor. In his most recent game against the University of New Orleans, he scored 16 points in 17 minutes. Jaylen Carey (7.6 PPG and 5.8 REB) and MJ Collins Jr. (7.7 PTS) also can make an impact off the bench and log quality minutes.
When you take the sum of all these parts, Vanderbilt has the seventh most productive bench in the nation, accounting for 37.62 points per game. This is second in the SEC only to Missouri (41.38 points per game) and third among Power Four programs. Byington views this depth as a key strength heading into SEC play.
“We will go as deep as we need to or sometimes not as much. Maybe it changes in SEC [play], maybe it doesn’t,” Byington said after the UNO game. “But I think [it] is an advantage for us — when the guys come in, they play really hard.”
Byington’s players recognize the advantage of a deep bench, knowing they can give full effort without wearing out.
“I think we’re really deep as a team, so not everybody has to be super exerted every game. We have a lot of guys that can contribute in a positive way,” Nickel said on Dec. 30. “We don’t have to [get to a point] where we are exhausted.”
This depth will benefit Vanderbilt in conference play for a few reasons. First — and perhaps most obvious — is the normal wear and tear of a season. A 31-game regular season is no small feat. As the season goes on, normal soreness or short-term pain can turn into macro-level injuries from overuse. Splitting minutes gives a team the best chance at staying healthy, which will pay dividends as the season progresses and other teams are forced to play at partial strength.
Vanderbilt’s depth also plays perfectly into Byington’s style of play, which is predicated on speed and aggression. The Commodores can relentlessly sustain their up-tempo offense through frequent substitutions.
It also makes it hard for opponents to scout Vanderbilt. If teams have to worry about eight or nine different players, they’re less likely to come up with a sound game plan.
The road ahead for Vanderbilt in SEC play will not be easy, but its deep bench could be the difference maker when it comes down to trying to make the NCAA tournament.
Hometown hero
While my fellow writers have rightfully praised Tanner in past editions of Memorial Minutes, I think it’s time for the first-year to get a section of his own — he’s just that good.
Tanner is not yet recognized nationally as one of the top first-years and is likely not a one-and-done player. He’s got NBA written all over him, but he’s not quite ready to make that jump. When watching Vanderbilt this year, though, it’s easy to see that Tanner is the real deal. The stats confirm this, revealing that he is one of the best first-years in the SEC — and the nation.
The Brentwood, Tennessee, native averages 7.8 points per game across 21 minutes while shooting 55.7% from the field and 33.3% from behind the arc. When you look at first-years nationwide, you will find Tanner sitting at No. 1 in steals with 32 and No. 2 in steals per game with 2.5. Those numbers rank 13th and 20th among all NCAA Division I players. He has also yet to turn the ball over through 13 games (tied for first in the NCAA).
Tanner is the only player in the country to have more than 20 steals and zero turnovers.
Box plus-minus (BPM) helps put Tanner’s impact into appropriate perspective. BPM estimates a player’s overall contribution to their team based on their box scores, essentially calculating how much of a positive or negative impact a player has on a game. Tanner currently holds an 11.7 BPM score, according to Bart Torvik. This metric is the best in the nation, ahead of notable first-years including 2025’s projected No. 1 draft pick Cooper Flagg.
Statistics aside, though, Tanner has all the intangibles needed to make him a star: toughness, coachability and a winning attitude. He might be coming off the bench, but he’s still one of the most exciting first-year prospects that this program has seen in years — perhaps since Scotty Pippen Jr. — and I only expect him to get better as conference play unfolds.
The gauntlet
Holding a record of 12-1 at this point in the season is good for any team — it’s especially good for a Vanderbilt team coming off a 9-23 season last year. It’s now time for Vanderbilt to face its biggest challenge yet: the gauntlet of SEC play.
The Commodores will start 2025 by climbing the metaphorical mountain that is SEC play. They’re only at base camp right now. While the SEC has always been fiercely competitive, it is by far the best conference in college basketball this year. The numbers are borderline unprecedented. Five SEC teams are in the top 10 of the AP Poll, while other metric calculators like KenPom and the NET agree. The SEC has 13 teams inside KenPom’s top 50. Winning in the SEC will be crucial if Vanderbilt wants to play in late March; Byington and Co. know this.
“We know it is going to be a war every SEC game, and we’ve got to try to battle to win as many of them as we possibly can,” Byington said after the win over UNO.
Vanderbilt has one of the toughest slates among other SEC teams and the nation. Ten of its 18 games will be against teams currently ranked higher in the NET, while six will come against teams in the top 20 of the NET.
To find success — and perhaps a spot in the NCAA Tournament — the Commodores will need to play their game every night. This means keeping an up-tempo pace and finishing at the rim. Byington is happy with his team’s performance thus far but knows there is always room for improvement.
“We’ve got a lot of things to work on, [and] I’m excited about it,” Byington said on Dec. 30. “We know [there] is going to be adversity — we know it is going to be tough.”
Vanderbilt begins what feels like a brand-new season as it enters SEC play. The next two months will determine if the Commodores’ hot start helped propel them into the tournament for the first time in over a decade, or if they will once again watch the big dance from home.
Vanderbilt Men’s Basketball will begin its conference play at LSU in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Tipoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. CST on Jan. 4.
